Chapter Twenty Eight

I was woken up by a pair of hands that were running through my hair and then trailing down my bare back lightly. I opened my eyes slightly, and could tell by the little amount of light that was filtering through the window inside my bedroom that it was probably not even eight in the morning yet. I made a small noise as I stretched my legs, which had been entertwined around Aaron's.

"Did I wake you?" Aaron asked, and I could feel his voice rumbling in his chest.

"Nuhuh," I mumbled, stretching my arm out a bit, and then draping it back across Aaron's bare stomach. I could feel the muscles in his abdomen contract slightly. I smiled sleepily.

"You gonna go back to sleep?" He moved a few pieces of hair that were covering my face over my shoulder. I nodded, and yawned, and Aaron chuckled. "Go back to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up."

"You better be," I mumbled, already on the edge of slipping into dreamland. He chuckled again, and ran his fingers through my hair slowly.

"I will be," he replied softly, and I could feel myself beginning to drift off.

Within no time, I was asleep once more.

* * *

The second time I woke up, I could hear Aaron's steady, even breaths in his chest, which meant he was asleep. I yawned widely and glanced over at my purple alarm clock. The bright red LED light read 10:46 AM.

I honestly did not want to leave the spot that I was in, because Aaron was so warm, and I knew that the second I stepped out of bed, I would get cold. This probably had to do with the fact that I wasn't wearing any clothes at all. But, sadly, I knew I had to get out of bed and take a shower sooner or later. I'd prefer later, but considering the activities I partook in last night, I should probably clean myself off sooner than later.

I untangled my legs from Aaron's, and slid off the bed, making sure I didn't wake him up. I could hear his small groan of protest as I left the bed, and I stifled a giggle.

When I got into the bathroom, I turned on the hot water and stepped under the jet that was spraying out of the shower head, and shivered.

About ten minutes later, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my favorite black towel around me. I turned around looking for my clothes.

"Shit," I muttered, realizing I didn't grab any.

I left the bathroom and tip-toed into my room, and jumped about a foot in the air when Aaron wolf-whistled from behind me. One of the sides of the towel that I was holding had also slipped through my fingers, and I grabbed it as quick as I could and turn around, my face bright red.

"Aaron!" I squealed, throwing a bra at him and laughing when it hit him in the face. "I thought you were still asleep."

"Well, I was," he said, picking my bra up off his bare chest and tossing it on the floor, "but when the shower started, I woke up.. Well, and when you left the bed."

I blushed. "Sorry."

"It's almost eleven so I figure I should probably be up by now, don't you think?" Aaron replied, laughing.

"No, not often."

"What?"

"You said, "Don't you think?" and I said, "Not often." Get it now?" I snickered as I turned around, my towel clutched tightly in my left hand, and began searching through my top drawer for a pair of panties and a bra. I couldn't help but notice my engagement ring that was sparkling on my fourth finger in the quickly growing sunlight that was flowing into the room. I smiled.

"You know, the view from over here is extremely nice," Aaron piped up from the bed. I just rolled my eyes and grabbed my red plaid and black lace bra. I held it up and asked without turning around,

"Hey, Aaron, do you like this bra?"

He was silent for a moment before answering, "I'd like it better if I could see you in it."

I dug around for a moment to find the matching panties. When I found them, I held them up, too. "How about these?"

"Once again, I'd like them better if I could see you in them."

"Well, then," I said, pushing my drawer shut with my elbow. I grabbed the ends of my towel with my teeth, and slid my panties on underneath it.

"Aw, not fair," Aaron protested with a smirk on his face. I dropped my towel and then proceeded to put my bra on. "Okay, never mind." I rolled my eyes. "Hey, will you toss me a pair of boxers?"

I grabbed a pair of navy blue boxers and chucked them over my shoulder.

"Of course. Navy blue." Aaron then coughed something that sounded oddly like "fetish," and I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him.

"You asked me to get you a pair. You should have expected it," I pointed out as I looked for something to wear.

"..True."

I just rolled my eyes once more and pulled out a purple tanktop and a pair of black shorts and put them on. When I turned around, Aaron was standing there in navy blue boxers and a white t-shirt. I glared. "You're teasing me."

He laughed. "Maybe.. Hey, it's not my fault you have a navy blue boxers and white t-shirt fetish, now, is it?" I glared even harder.

"Well, that fetish hadn't really surfaced until you showed up," I muttered, adjusting my tanktop.

"Oh, wonderful. I'm the cause of a fetish. I don't know whether to be scared, insulted, or complimented by that," Aaron said, smirking as I stuck my tongue out at him. He looked me up and down. "Now I'm not the only one who's teasing. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my still-damp hair with the discarded towel that was on the floor.

"Not my fault you find a pair of black shorts tempting." I dropped my towel as Aaron wrapped his arms around my waist, and whispered in my ear,

"I find everything about you tempting." I shivered. "The way you walk.. The way you talk.. The way you giggle.. The way you shiver when I'm driving you crazy.." He slid his hands up my sides, and took my tanktop with it, so that my tummy was bare and it looked like I was wearing a sports bra. "I even find the way you roll your eyes at me tempting." He brushed his lips along my neck, and I closed my eyes. "But you wanna know what drives me crazy?" I didn't answer. Okay, I couldn't answer - I couldn't get my brain to make words form.

He traced the outline of my hips with the tips of his fingers. "The look on your face when.." He trailed off suggestively, and I blushed.

"How's about we go downstairs before I'm in need of a second shower?" I recommended, turning my head and kissing Aaron's cheek.

"But that isn't nessicarilly a bad thing," he protested, tracing the lines of my hips again.

"Aaron.." I warned, draping my arm back over his shoulder like in the scene from Titanic where Jack and Rose kiss for the first time. I kissed his cheek once more. "Let's go to the mall or something. I need some stuff."

"Stuff?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, stuff. And I have money for the stuff, and if we get hungry, I have some money for that too." I pulled out of Aaron's grip and walked across the hall to the bathroom and began to brush my hair.

"Well," Aaron called from our room, "you don't have to pay for everything." I could hear him digging around in a drawer for something. Pants, hopefully.

"Oh, bleh," I replied, pulling my hair up into a ponytail. Aaron showed up in the mirror behind me, now with white basketball shorts on that reached a little past his knees. I growled. "Must you look good in everything you put on?"

"Must you?" he quipped, smacking my bottom. I jumped.

"Rape," I squeaked, and Aaron laughed, hopping onto the counter next to me as I began to apply eyeliner.
"It's not rape if you enjoy it." I rolled my eyes and pulled out my bottle of concealer.

"What's that? It looks like skin colored nail polish." He had one eyebrow raised.

"You know," I said, pouring some into my hand and mixing it with some vanilla-scented lotion, "that's what I thought it was when I was little."

"Well, the bottle sure looks like it," he said, picking it up and turning it over in his hands. "Concealer. What're you trying to conceal?"

If I gave him the answer that was longing to leap off my tongue, he'd get all pissy, and I didn't really want that just this moment. "My face," I replied nonchalantly, dabbing concealer on my face and blending it in.

"Well, then you shouldn't use it because I love your face. It's another one of those temptations." He gave a wide, lopsided grin.

I ignored him and put on some mascara. When I finished, i turned to Aaron and asked, "Do I look okay?" He hopped off the counter and kissed my nose.

"You look much more than okay. You look gorgeous." I smiled. "And you smell like vanilla." I rolled my eyes with a grin on my face.

"You're too kind." He followed me out of the bathroom and back into our room, where I began looking for my wallet.

"This is a nice view.." he said from behind me as I bent down to grab my wallet, which had managed to creep its way under my bed. I pulled a wad of cash out of it, and then chucked it at Aaron. I then proceeded to slip said wad of cash into my bra. Aaron whistled, and I poked him in the stomach as I walked by, and headed downstairs, making sure not to trip and land on my face. I slipped on my black flipflops and grabbed Aaron's car keys.

"Come on, Aaron! I haven't got all day!"

He flipped me off as he came downstairs. I threw his white Vans at him and headed into the kitchen to grab my camera.

"Okay, we're ready," I said, walking into the living room, where Aaron was currently bent over, tying his shoe. I put my right hand on my hip and cocked my head. "Well.. This is a very nice view." Aaron stood back up and stuck his tongue out at me. I just handed him my camera, which he slipped into his pocket.

We headed out into the bright sunlight, and I got into the driver's side of the car.

"Hey!"

"Hay is for horses, not people, Aaron," I retorted, smirking. "Now get in."

He muttered something about "my car" and got in grudgingly.

The drive to the mall was filled with bickering, music, and poking. Mostly just bickering though.

Aaron jumped when his phone started talking. "Ring.. Ring.. Bitch alert. There is a bitch on the other side of this phone. Do not pick it up." I eyed his pocket warily.

"And who is that?" I asked as he pulled out his phone and answered the call.

"Hi, Jessi." I burst into hysterics.

"Aaron, you're so mean!"

"No, I didn't poke her," Aaron muttered into the phone. "Cos she's driving.. Yes, my car. She stole it."

"I did not!" I shouted at the phone, and Aaron leaned away from me as we pulled into the mall parking lot.

"Don't believe her. She's a compulsive - GAH!" I poked Aaron in the side repeatedly as I parked the car with one hand. "No, Jessi, stop hyperventilating. She didn't crash the car." I glared at him. "She poked me."

"Damn right, I did, and he deserved it." I turned off the car. "Say bye bye Aaron."

He glared at me with hatred. I smiled back sweetly. "We're at the mall now so I'll talk to you when I do."

"Real smooth," I said as he flipped the phone closed and stuffed it back in his pocket.

We bickered all the way into the mall. I swear, we already sounded like a married couple.

The second we stepped into the atrium, a group of about six guys stopped and looked me up and down. One of them whistled, and I turned bright red. I leaned over and whispered to Aaron, "Maybe I shouldn't have worn these shorts.." Aaron Wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head.

"Come on." We headed for HotTopic so I could look for some new bras. Aaron definitely lucked out on the fact that the music sampler is directly in front of the dressing room.

I found two bras that I really liked, and I think Aaron liked them even more than I did.

We walked around hand-in-hand until about 12:30, and then we got a pretzel and sat down at a table by the fountain. Okay, Aaron sat at the table. I sat on Aaron.

"Must you tease me?" he muttered as I pulled a chunk off the pretzel. I turned a little on Aaron's lap and I heard him groan. Giggling, I said,

"Open wiiiiide!"

Aaron opened his mouth, and I put the end of the pretzel in his mouth, and put the other end of it in my mouth. We pulled a Lady and the Tramp and bit down at the same time, thus causing us to kiss. I pulled away giggling.

Aaron wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed, bringing me closer to him. "You're so corny."

I giggled. "You love me anyway."

"Definitely." I reached into Aaron's pocket, and he said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, not in public." I elbowed him and pulled out my camera.

"Say I love you!" I chirruped and held the camera out in front of us.

"I love you," he murmured, and turned my head so that I was facing him, and kissed me. I snapped the picture. I turned the camera around and looked at the picture.

"Aww. We're so cute." Aaron chuckled and ripped off another piece of the pretzel and held it out in front of me. I took it from his fingers with my mouth. "Oh, and now you're feeding me. How exquisite."

"You're still corny."

"You still love me."

"I doubt I ever won't," he said, and I grinned.

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do. Why would I say it if I didn't mean it?" I trailed my fingers over his hands.

"I dunno."

"Well, I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, and obviously, I said it, so I obviously mean it." He kissed my shoulder.

Aaron's phone started saying the whole bitch alert get-up, and he had to reach under me to get his phone. I squealed.

"Hello?" he said into the phone. I spaced out and began to twirl the ring on my finger in circles again. I honestly couldn't believe I was engaged.

Aaron closed his phone. "What'd Jessi want?" I asked.

"I honestly don't remember," he muttered. "You done?"

I nodded. I didn't have much of an appetite. I hopped off Aaron's lap and grabbed my bag that had the bras in it, and grabbed Aaron's hand.

As we started heading towards Target when I noticed Courtney Williams. She had teased me mercilessly until about ninth grade. Ninth grade was when I threatened to stab her. She also happened to be one of Aaron's ex-girlfriends. I started to pull Aaron into FYE movies, but she saw us.

"Oh, look who it is. The emo slut and the player," she squealed, clip-clopping over to us. I cursed quietly under my breath, and Aaron's face arranged itself into an un-readable mask.

"What do you want?" he asked frostily.

"Oh, my, no need to get hostile." She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Seriously, what do you want?" Aaron repeated, wrapping his arm around me. I wrapped my arms around his torso and purposely let the diamond on my finger show.

"Oh, wow, you're engaged?" She gave it a scrutinizing look. "But it's so tiny."

"Courtney, honestly, go fuck yourself," I snapped.

She rolled her eyes. "How much did she pay you to give her that diamond? Or, better yet, what'd she threaten to do to you?" I growled and narrowed my eyes. Aaron tightened his grip on my waist.

"She didn't threaten or pay me." Aaron's voice was so calm that it was frightening. "She, unlike you, is an amazing person, and I love her. I only dated you because they said you were a good fuck, and you know what? You can't even do that right."

Courtney gave a small "hmph!" flicked her hair over her shoulder, and stalked away, her Jimmy Choo heels clickity-clacking the whole way.

"You okay?" Aaron asked me, releasing his death-grip on my waist and kissing my forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and my middle finger, and breathed deeply.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, give me a minute." Aaron stopped asking me if I was alright, but he rubbed my back. I sighed deeply. "Okay, I'm good. Jeez, you grip hard when you're pissed off." I lifted the corner of my tank top. Sure enough, there were four pink marks where Aaron's fingers had been. "I think that's gonna bruise, but, then again, I bruise easily."

"Shit," he said, looking extremely guilty. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It didn't hurt."

"No it isn't. I hurt you. I -" I put my finger on his lips and he ceased talking.

"It's fine, Aaron. It's not like you meant to." I replaced my finger with my lips. "C'mon." I closed my hand around his and pulled him into Target.

Halfway down the aisle, I asked Aaron, "Did you actually sleep with that bimbo?" He was silent for a moment.

"Does it count if I was so drunk that I don't even really remember it?" I considered that for a moment.

"No, not really. I know from personal experience that alcohol can cause one to do things that they probably never would." Aaron laughed. "Hey, will you grab me that basket? I need to get some stuff." Aaron grabbed a bright red basket from the stand and handed it to me. I immediately dragged him into the personal feminine items aisle.

"Must you drag me here? I really do not need to see what kind of tampons my girlfriend buys."

"Oh, yes, you do. If you're gonna be my husband, you need to know what kind to buy me." He halted in the middle of the aisle, and I nearly fell on my face as my hand yanked out of his.

"I have to buy you tampons? You never said that was part of the deal." I laughed.

"Aaron, they can't hurt you." He glared at the box of Tampax that I had picked up.

"Yes.. They can." I waved them in his face. "Stop it." I began laughing so hard that my sides hurt. "Shut up." I looked at him, and thankfully, he was grinning. "Fine, I'll buy you tampons as long as it's not every time."

I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him, and then dropped the box into the basket. "Fine. Eleven months out of twelve." He glared, and I just laughed.

After getting something for dinner, some makeup, and some batteries, we headed for the car. This time, Aaron got into the driver's side before I could blink. I got in the passenger side and just rolled my eyes at him.

The drive home was quiet, but peaceful.

When we got home, Aaron and I lay down on the couch together, and within five minutes of my head landing on Aaron's chest, I was asleep.